11 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Creators

YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, and other online platforms are changing the way people create and consume media. The Verge’s Creators section covers the people using these platforms, what they’re making, and how those platforms are changing (for better and worse) in response to the vloggers, influencers, podcasters, photographers, musicians, educators, designers, and more who are using them.

The Verge’s Creators section also looks at the way creators are able to turn their projects into careers — from Patreons and merch sales, to ads and Kickstarters — and the ways they’re forced to adapt to changing circumstances as platforms crack down on bad actors and respond to pressure from users and advertisers. New platforms are constantly emerging, and existing ones are ever-changing — what creators have to do to succeed is always going to look different from one year to the next.

Mia Sato
Mia Sato
Instagram ponies up (again).

The company is paying a group of creators to refer people to Instagram, Business Insider reports. Influencers can earn $100 for every new user or 1,000 visits to the Instagram app, with a $20,000 limit.

Instagram regularly tests monetization bonuses in an effort to juice engagement: they’ve paid people to post Reels and ditch TikTok, for example. But the Reels bonuses were touch and go for creators, with Instagram killing the program in 2023.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
More MrBeast controversy.

The Mexican authorities threatened legal action this week over a video featuring the YouTube sensation MrBeast at ancient Maya ruins, suggesting that a production company had violated an agreement for filming at the site.

Here’s a link to the video, if you’re curious.

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Outdoor Boys says goodbye.

Luke Nichols, who runs the nearly 15-million-subscriber-strong YouTube channel, partly blames fame:

...Because of people stealing my content and posting it on other platforms, my family and I have been viewed about 4 billion times, in addition to the 2.8 billion views on YouTube. The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with me, or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be overwhelming ... The time to stop is before this problem gets so out of hand that my family and I can’t live normal lives.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The EU thinks TikTok broke its ad rules.

The preliminary finding in an investigation opened last year says TikTok breached the Digital Services Act’s requirements to publish information about the content of ads, which users are targeted, and who paid for them. Now it’s TikTok’s turn to respond and try to avoid a potential fine worth up to 6 percent of its annual turnover, just weeks after it was fined $600 million for breaking the bloc’s GDPR regulations.

Mia Sato
Mia Sato
YouTube will use Gemini to place ads in videos.

The company says its new ad system will use AI to place ads in videos at “contextually relevant” moments where viewers are most likely to be engaged. YouTube announced the feature on Wednesday at its annual Brandcast event for advertisers.

A YouTube video bar showing a “targeted moment” and the Gemini-identified ad window directly following.
Image: YouTube
Why one obscure app could help crumble Meta’s empire

The government’s case could come down to whether the judge thinks MeWe is a closer competitor to Instagram than TikTok.

Lauren Feiner
What lies beneath: filming gators in the Florida springs

This wildlife filmmaker documents the unseen beauty of freshwater ecosystems.

Cath Virginia
What’s in the box?

What is the Vietnamese diaspora? The latest issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly tries to answer that question with a fake cigar box.

Kevin Nguyen
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Trump says he’d delay the TikTok ban again.

During an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, President Donald Trump said he’d “be willing” to extend TikTok’s June 19th deadline if its China-based parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t reach a deal to divest the app’s US business in time. China backed out of a potential deal last month after Trump imposed up to 145 percent tariffs on goods imported from the country.

Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
Sometimes the headlines write themselves.

“In particular, Nelson told her followers in October that she had spent the last seven days looking for the moon to no avail.

“Has anyone seen the moon lately?” Nelson asked at the time. “I’ve been looking for 7 days.”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Some good updates for YouTube on TV.

The app on TVs now has a dedicated podcasts tab and the ability to loop all VOD content. Check out more details about those changes and more in a post from YouTube.

Everybody wants to buy ChromeEverybody wants to buy Chrome
David Pierce
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Welcome to the anti-AI club…Adobe?

Fresco, the creative software giant’s painting and drawing app, will now allow users to embed Content Credentials into their work that specifically identify it as “created without generative AI.” Content Credentials can already track if images have been manipulated using AI tools but clearly marking them as AI free is a new one, especially for a company that’s so heartily embraced the technology across its other apps.

A screenshot taken in Adobe Fresco of the Content Credentials feature.
“Flex your skills” aye? That’s a change of tune, but a welcome one.
Image: Adobe
YouTube is everything and everything is YouTube

20 years in, YouTube is a dominant entertainment force. Now it’s coming for just about every way you spend your time.

David Pierce